California Assembly Bill 427 was introduced on February 6, 2025, and may be heard in committee as early as March 8, 2025. How does this proposed Bill affect social workers and consumers? Let’s explore the Bill’s intended purpose, how it relates to a nationwide Compact and its potential effects on the profession.
The Social Work Licensure Compact
Before discussing CA AB427, it’s important to first understand the Social Work Licensure Compact. In 2023, a working group released the Social Work Licensure Compact model legislation. This working group was made up of staff from the National Center for Interstate Compacts at the Council of State Governments, social work professionals, state regulators, and representatives of social work professional associations such as the Association of Social Work Boards, which is the licensing organization for the field of social work. They collaborated for quite a while to draft this model legislation.
Model legislation is a suggested example of a law. The working group drafted this model to be shared with all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories. The model would be used to develop a bill to be passed and enacted by each independent state/territory legislature to develop an interstate compact.
An interstate compact is a contract between two or more states where they agree to cooperate on a specific issue. While compacts have been around for decades, since COVID-19, professionals have seen an uptick of interest in using them to make it easier to recognize professional licenses across state lines.
Some professions that currently use interstate compacts are medicine, nursing, emergency medical services, physical therapy, psychology, audiology and speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and counseling.
The Social Work Licensure Compact would allow social workers who have been approved for a social work license in one state to practice professionally in another state that is also a member of the Compact. It makes sense for social work to join the ranks of these well-established professions in using interstate compacts to expand services across state lines.
Why Would Multistate Social Work Practice be Beneficial?
There are several reasons why a social work compact is desirable. First, many areas across the U.S. are experiencing a social work shortage. There are simply not enough licensed social workers to meet the need. Allowing licensed social workers to practice from another state could help to fill these needs without requiring the professional to relocate.
Second, remote working and telehealth services are becoming more mainstream. Using video technology to virtually see providers has dramatically increased the accessibility of health and mental health services, especially for those living in rural areas. Many living in rural communities or those in urban or suburban communities that do not have reliable or affordable transportation may forgo receiving mental health care simply because there are too many barriers to getting to a clinic for face-to-face services.
It has been demonstrated that telehealth services can be just as beneficial as seeing a provider face to face. Offering social work services to clients virtually can decrease the barriers to receiving care. Also, social workers do not have to live in the community they serve if they work virtually.
Additionally, if a client’s personal situation requires them to move across state lines or relocate because they are part of a military family, the Social Work Licensure Compact would allow them to have continuity of care with their current provider. This would mean they wouldn’t have to stop receiving services, move, get settled, and then start what could be a lengthy process of finding a new provider. This benefit would be critical in ensuring clients have continued regular therapy, case management, and other supportive services during what is often a stressful time in life.
Social Work Licensure Compact Timeline
Just because there is suggested verbiage for legislation to pass a social work interstate compact does not mean it’s an easy or automatic process. Each state has different priorities for each legislative session, and while some states may pass the legislation quickly without debate, other states may postpone proposing a bill for various reasons. Additionally, once proposed, a bill may face opposition that can delay its passing and enactment.
The model legislation was released in January 2023. It was designed to go into effect once seven states enacted it into law. Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Kentucky, Virginia, and Kansas were the first seven states to enact the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Compact was enacted in each of these states in early 2024. This demonstrates that states see the value of having social workers be able to practice in multiple states.
At the time of this writing, 22 states have adopted the Compact, and 15 states have legislation pending, one of which is California.
However, implementing the Compact can take up to 24 months to get everything into place before social workers can apply for multistate licenses.
So, while progress is being made on this front, it may still be some time before a licensed social worker can apply for a multistate license and work in different states.
Case Study
Let’s review the process of being approved for a multistate license. We’ll use Anita, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) living in Colorado, as an example. Colorado has enacted the Compact, as have several neighboring states, including Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, and Arizona.
Anita decided she wanted to practice social work in other compact member states. As long as her license in Colorado is ‘unencumbered’—that is, without restrictions or limitations—she can apply for a multistate license.
She will apply for the multistate license through her home state. Since Colorado is where Anita lives and the state that has granted her existing license, Anita will complete the multistate license application, and Colorado will verify that she meets the Compact’s requirements.
The Compact has license categories for Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Clinical licenses. The Colorado board will confirm that Anita meets the requirements for the multistate Clinical license, as that is the level at which she is licensed in Colorado as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Once her eligibility has been confirmed, Anita will be issued a multistate license. She can now practice at her approved level of licensure (LCSW) in any other member state. It will likely be most common for professionals to practice in the surrounding states, but this is not a requirement. She could work with a client just across the border in Kansas or with one across the country in Maine, another Compact member state.
Colorado would continue to track Anita’s annual continuing education requirements, and she would be required to keep her license in good standing (Colorado, as her home licensing state, would be responsible for keeping track of this) to keep her multistate license. Should disciplinary action against Anita be needed due to professional misconduct, both her Colorado and multistate licenses would be at risk of being revoked.
California AB 427
Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson has proposed California Assembly Bill 427 to include California in the federal Social Work Licensure Compact. The Bill acknowledges that the Board of Behavioral Sciences within the Department of Consumer Affairs oversees and regulates registrants and licensees under California’s Clinical Social Worker Practice Act. This oversight would not change as a result of this Bill.
The Bill states that the Compact would allow social workers across state lines to work, serve, and advocate for their clients while continuing to adhere to California’s state laws and requirements. It further states that the Compact is critical in improving mobility for licensed clinical social workers and ensuring that services are delivered efficiently and effectively across state boundaries. For these reasons, the Bill has been introduced to enact the legislative action of including California in the Social Work Licensure Compact.
This Bill may pass quickly or take some time to be enacted. Those in support of the Bill hope it is passed right away so California can join the Compact.
Joining the Compact means the state is one step closer to filling social work shortages by allowing licensed professionals in other states to serve clients within California while living elsewhere. As California’s cost of living may be one reason for the social work shortage, this is a way that California residents can still receive needed services, but from professionals that live out of state.
The quality of care provided would still be on par with care received from social workers initially licensed in California – it would not be diminished in any way because it is being provided by someone living elsewhere. The ability to receive services via telehealth could also increase the overall number of clients receiving assistance since transportation barriers would be removed. Those moving into or out of the state could continue to receive care from their provider if the provider and the other state are part of the federal Compact.
Including California in the federal Social Work Licensure Compact makes sense to increase the availability of services to its residents while ensuring that the individuals providing those services are fully vetted and licensed and, though they may live elsewhere, they still follow all of California’s laws.